Even Xiaomi’s most powerful smartphones are slowing down over time, with apps opening for a long time, animations twitching, and the system reacting to latency, ranging from overloaded memory to bugs in MIUI firmware, but 90% of the time, the problem can be solved without visiting a service center.
In this article, we will discuss practical methods of acceleration - from basic (cleaning cache, turning off animations) to advanced (setting the processor core, resetting to factory settings). All instructions are relevant for Redmi models, POCO and flagship Xiaomi 12/13/14 series based on MIUI 14/15 and HyperOS. Particular attention will be paid to the bottlenecks of budget devices - lack of RAM and slow eMMC modules.
Before you start optimizing, check the processor boot in Settings → About Phone → System Status. If the CPU is constantly loaded by 50%+ without active tasks, the problem may be in the background software or viruses.
1.Diagnostics: Why has Xiaomi gotten slower?
The first step is to identify the source of the brakes, and the causes are divided into 3 categories:
- 📱 Software: overloaded firmware, errors MIUI, viruses or conflicting applications.
- 🔋 Hardware: battery wear (leads to trottling), overheating, damaged memory eMMC/UFS.
- 🗑️ System: clogged cache, fragmented memory, outdated firmware.
For quick diagnosis:
- Open Settings → Memory and check the space available. If less than 10% of the total volume, this is a critical area.
- Launch Security → Scanning (built-in antivirus) MIUI).
- Install the app CPU Throttling Test (from Google Play) – it will show whether the system limits performance due to overheating or battery discharge.
If the diagnosis showed a high CPU load for no apparent reason, the problem may be hidden in the background. For example, Mi Cloud or Google Services sometimes “hang” and load the system. The solution is a forced stop through Settings → Applications → All applications → [name] → Stop.
2.Cache and garbage cleanup: a quick way to free up memory
Application cache and system debris are the main memory eaters. MIUI has built-in cleaning tools, but they don't always work efficiently. Here's what to do:
- 🧹 Cleaning the app cache: Go to Settings → Memory. → Clean. Press Deep Clean and select all applications. For manual cleaning: Settings → Annexes → [select] → Memory. → Clear the cache.
- 🗑️ Remove unnecessary files: In the same Memory section, click Files and sort by size. APK-files (remains after installing applications), duplicate photos and cache of Google Play Services.
Optimizing autoloading
- In Settings → Applications → Autoboot, disable autostart for unnecessary applications (especially instant messengers and games).
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If after cleaning the cache, an app (such as Instagram) loads data for a long time, that's OK. 1-2 utilization.
3. Disable animation and visual effects
MIUI is known for its beauty — smooth transitions, animations when opening apps, blur effects — but on weak smartphones (like the Redmi 9A or POCO M3), this leads to friezes.
Method 1: Through the Developer's Settings
- Activate Developer Mode: Settings → About Phone → MIUI version (click 7 times).
- Back to Settings → Additionally. → For developers.
- Find the items: Window animation scale → Disable animation scale transition animation → Disable animation animation duration animator → Disable animation
Method 2: Through ADB (for Advanced)
If the developer settings do not have the right items (relevant to HyperOS), use the command:
adb shell settings put global window_animation_scale 0
adb shell settings put global transition_animation_scale 0
adb shell settings put global animator_duration_scale 0On models with a Snapdragon 4xx/6xx processor (such as the Redmi Note 10), disabling animations gives up to 20% speed increase when switching between applications.
What if after the animation was turned off MIUI began to glitch?
4. MIUI Optimization: Hidden Settings and Tweaks
MIUI contains hidden features that allow you to speed up the system, most of which are available through Settings → Special Features or Developer.
| Setting up | The way is on the menu | The effect |
|---|---|---|
| Disable MIUI Optimization | For developers → Turn off optimization MIUI | Removes unnecessary background processes, but can break some MIUI chips (e.g., second space). |
| Limit background processes | For developers → The limit of background processes → 2 processes | Reduces the load on RAM, but applications will be rebooted more often. |
| GPU-acceleration | For developers → Forced acceleration GPU | It helps in gaming, but can increase battery consumption. |
| Turn off automatic synchronization | Accounts → Autosynchronization of data | Reduces the load on the CPU when working in the background. |
One of the most effective tweaks is to turn off MIUI Optimization, which is a built-in mechanism that tries to guess what applications you're going to need and keeps them in RAM. In practice, it often makes a mistake and loads the system.
- Activate the developer mode (see section above).
- Go to For Developers → Optimization MIUI.
- Turn off the slider.
- Restart the phone – changes will apply after the reboot.
For scanning:
- Use built-in Security → Scan (update virus databases!).
- Install Malwarebytes or Kaspersky Mobile for in-depth verification.
- Check the list of installed applications in Settings → Applications. Pay attention to programs with unknown names (for example, com.system.update is not a system application!).
If you find suspicious software:
- Open the application information and click Delete.
- If the button is inactive, it's a system application. Try disabling it using ADB: adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.example.malware
- After removal, reset the cache through Settings → Memory → Cleanup.
⚠️ Note: Some viruses masquerade as system services (e.g. com.qualcomm.qti).Please check the name in Google before deleting it - it may be a critical component MIUI!
6. Hardware Limitations: What to do if Iron is weak?
If your Xiaomi is equipped with a Snapdragon 4xx or Helio Gxx processor, and eMMC memory (instead of UFS), software optimization will have a limited effect.
- 🔄 Replacement of memory with UFS (It is very important for the Redmi Note 8 Pro, POCO X3 NFC — Some models support the upgrade).
- 🔋 Battery replacement (a worn-out battery causes trottling) CPU).
- 🧊 Use of cooling stands (for games - reduces trolling on the 15-20%).
- 📱 Switch to light firmware (e.g. Pixel Experience instead of Pixel Experience) MIUI).
To check the memory type, install the AIDA64 app and look at the Storage line:
- UFS 2.1/2.2/3.0 is a fast memory (normal read/write speed).
- eMMC 5.1 – Slow memory (brakes when multitasking)
If you have an eMMC, avoid:
- Simultaneously run heavy applications (for example, games + video recording).
- Using the phone as a flash drive (frequent PC connections accelerate wear and tear).
- Recording videos in 4K@60FPS is a huge memory burden.
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On eMMC smartphones (Redmi 9, POCO M2), the main reason for the brakes is slow read/write speed (about 100-150 MB/s vs 500-800 MB/s in UFS), the solution is to minimize background processes and avoid multitasking.
7.Extreme measures: reset to factory settings
If nothing works, it's hard reset, which will delete all the data, but it will return the smartphone to a "clean" state.
- Make a backup through Settings → Additional → Backup and Reset.
- Remember or take pictures of your Wi-Fi settings, Google Account and Mi Account.
- Extract. SD-map SIM (if there are).
Resetting instructions:
- Go to Settings → About the phone → Reset settings.
- Choose to erase all data.
- Confirm the action and wait for the reboot (it will take 5-10 minutes).
After discharge:
- Do not restore data from the backup right away – check the speed of the clean system first.
- Install applications selectively (one at a time) by monitoring performance.
⚠️ Note: On some models (Xiaomi 12 Pro, POCO F4 GT) After the reset, you may need to re-assign the Mi Account to unlock the bootloader!